Part I - Temples in Srilanka - Shri ponnambalawaneswaram kovil!!
Temples in Srilanka!!
In this series, I would be covering the most astonishing travel to Hindu temples in Srilanka!
Being a spiritual seeker, my primary goal was to visit all the temples of Shiva in Srilanka.Normally tour to srilanka doesn't include most of these remote places and Hindu temples, so it was bit difficult to sketch out the plan but finallly through intense research we made it possible.
To start with, we need to understand the demographics of Srilanka first, it's divided into provinces like northern, eastern, western southern provinces. The northern province of Srilanka is mainly dominated by Tamils while as we move towards south we have Srilankan locals ( Sinhalese).
(Courtesy: Lonely Planet)
When you think of Srilanka as a destination, we think about beaches,jungles, elephants, tea, coffee, spices and much more. "Temples in Srilanka" was the goal for the entire tour and what I discovered was beyond imagination and was truly astonishing. The objective was not only visiting these temples for observation but also for understanding the rituals on Hindu temples beyond the shores.The route defined for the tour was Colombo - Puttalam - Mannar - Jaffna -Trincomalee -Sigiriya - Matara -Colombo. It was unique route but was one of the best drives of lifetime. The drive was through dense jungles, through serene beaches and through loving locals. From elephant watching to birds observation to eating local food, it had everything in it.
If you observe Srilanka from origins , you will find lot of evidences of Srilanka being Ravana's kingdom. The same thing can be felt at all the shiva temples which I visited, the rituals maintained were simply more than perfection and you can easily get positive vibes at each place. I would be covering each and every place of visit in my series of blogs.
Srilanka if you study,was Hindu country primarily, post buddhism spread across the country few centuries back and then the portuguese, French and Britishers fought resulting in what Srilanka is today. This is the state of most of countries near India, from Bhutan to Nepal to Cambodia to Myanmar to Indonesia to Pakistan.The local language is Sinhalese and religions followed are Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and a good percentage of Hindu Tamils are across the country.
As we all know, Buddhism was an outcome of Hinduism due to irrationality spread within the different segments of the society and it has been spread strongly across the asian countries in last 100 years. Srilanka is no more exception for that!
In Srilanka most of the temples are called " Kovil" its tamilian word for temples. The first temple was on my card was Shri Ponnambalawaneswaram Kovil in the heart of financial capital of the country -Colombo.
The history of Sri Ponnambalwaneswaram Tmeple dates back to over a one and half century ago. In 1857, a local minor land Lord name Ponnambalam Mudaliya wished to provide a place of worship for the Hindus in residence in Colombo.
At that time, the country was under British rule and the Mudaliyar built a little temple for God Shiva , which became a safe haven for the Hindus of the era. Years later in 1905 the temples was inherted by Ponnambalam Mudaliyar's son, the independence Revolutionary, Sri Ponnambalam Ramanathan. This was the same man who played pivotal role in the Srilanka's Independence. He is well known today by all Srilankans for his oratory and legal work during the crisis that arose during the struggles for Srilanka Independence.
This Kovil was formed in complete stone and based on vedic scriptures. Peerless example of ancient Dravidian architecture! According to the vedas the human body is considered as the microcosm of the vast universe. All Hindu temples made under Dravidian architecture display similar set up. The main shrine is the moolasthanam or the primary place and represents the heart and is also similar to the center of the universe. The rest of the shrines are positioned around it. Shivlinga is at the centre sourrounded by all other shrines. The way the devotees worship at the temple is similar to the flow of blood through vessels, or the universe rotating around its axis. They start from the moolasthanam ( heart), go through each shrine that represents the main organs and worship back to the heart again. This shows how your gross body is nothing but divine existence on this earth, its only matter of time to realize it! That time can be anything from few seconds to to 1000 births!! Its deeper! Human body is the only way for divine realization!!
( Courtesy: Lakpura)
I happened to visit this Kovil in the evening phase, all seems to be so pacifying! The surroundings seems to be enchanted with the vibrations. The purpose of my blogs is not only to educate on the temples but also to share the importance of our core existence. If you are receptive enough the more you move towards the centre of the shrine of shivlinga, the more you will move towards inner peace. When we talk about peace on materialistic planes, which is very superficial and temporary. The day we realize that state of thoughtlessness is real peace is the day you will be at the sync with the nature. Thats how the world has been victim of all the things which moves one towards temporary state of peace, from liquor to drugs to sex!
Through these routes you will further pushed in the lower planes and you will sink deeper. Only immersing yourself in divine love is the only way to move ahead in the futile human life.This Kovil has presence of Shiv and Shakti both. Shiv Shakti together exists simultaneously. Divine cant be realize if you dont have energy in place.
When Rishi Bhringi told Lord Shiva that his love is only for him and doesnt have place for shakti in his life, shiva made him paralytic ( half dead) and showed him the right path,Shiv Shakti took " Ardhanareshwar" form showing the union, the insperability, the togetherness!! Only shakti makes you realize the existence of Shiva, only mother can tell the child who is his/ her father.
Sri Ponnambalawaneswaram is one of those kovils in Srilanka where the rituals are maintained as the vedic scriptures. It is must visit place for every spiritual seeker, you can spend good amount of time at this shrine. Timings are not the routine ones, afternoon the shrine is closed till 5 pm.
In the Part II of this series, I would be taking you through another Shiva Temple is Srilanka - Shri Munneswaram, Chilwa, Puttalama,Srilanka. It is also one of the five abodes of Shiva formed by Ravana in the ancient times.
Till then do meditate and start searching your trueself!!
Om namah Shivay!!
Mangesh Pawar
Panchatatvam/VDOO Travel,
+91-8007976815,
mangesh.pawar@vdoo-travel.in,
mangeshpawar83@gmail.com.
In this series, I would be covering the most astonishing travel to Hindu temples in Srilanka!
Being a spiritual seeker, my primary goal was to visit all the temples of Shiva in Srilanka.Normally tour to srilanka doesn't include most of these remote places and Hindu temples, so it was bit difficult to sketch out the plan but finallly through intense research we made it possible.
To start with, we need to understand the demographics of Srilanka first, it's divided into provinces like northern, eastern, western southern provinces. The northern province of Srilanka is mainly dominated by Tamils while as we move towards south we have Srilankan locals ( Sinhalese).
When you think of Srilanka as a destination, we think about beaches,jungles, elephants, tea, coffee, spices and much more. "Temples in Srilanka" was the goal for the entire tour and what I discovered was beyond imagination and was truly astonishing. The objective was not only visiting these temples for observation but also for understanding the rituals on Hindu temples beyond the shores.The route defined for the tour was Colombo - Puttalam - Mannar - Jaffna -Trincomalee -Sigiriya - Matara -Colombo. It was unique route but was one of the best drives of lifetime. The drive was through dense jungles, through serene beaches and through loving locals. From elephant watching to birds observation to eating local food, it had everything in it.
If you observe Srilanka from origins , you will find lot of evidences of Srilanka being Ravana's kingdom. The same thing can be felt at all the shiva temples which I visited, the rituals maintained were simply more than perfection and you can easily get positive vibes at each place. I would be covering each and every place of visit in my series of blogs.
Srilanka if you study,was Hindu country primarily, post buddhism spread across the country few centuries back and then the portuguese, French and Britishers fought resulting in what Srilanka is today. This is the state of most of countries near India, from Bhutan to Nepal to Cambodia to Myanmar to Indonesia to Pakistan.The local language is Sinhalese and religions followed are Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and a good percentage of Hindu Tamils are across the country.
As we all know, Buddhism was an outcome of Hinduism due to irrationality spread within the different segments of the society and it has been spread strongly across the asian countries in last 100 years. Srilanka is no more exception for that!
In Srilanka most of the temples are called " Kovil" its tamilian word for temples. The first temple was on my card was Shri Ponnambalawaneswaram Kovil in the heart of financial capital of the country -Colombo.
The history of Sri Ponnambalwaneswaram Tmeple dates back to over a one and half century ago. In 1857, a local minor land Lord name Ponnambalam Mudaliya wished to provide a place of worship for the Hindus in residence in Colombo.
At that time, the country was under British rule and the Mudaliyar built a little temple for God Shiva , which became a safe haven for the Hindus of the era. Years later in 1905 the temples was inherted by Ponnambalam Mudaliyar's son, the independence Revolutionary, Sri Ponnambalam Ramanathan. This was the same man who played pivotal role in the Srilanka's Independence. He is well known today by all Srilankans for his oratory and legal work during the crisis that arose during the struggles for Srilanka Independence.
This Kovil was formed in complete stone and based on vedic scriptures. Peerless example of ancient Dravidian architecture! According to the vedas the human body is considered as the microcosm of the vast universe. All Hindu temples made under Dravidian architecture display similar set up. The main shrine is the moolasthanam or the primary place and represents the heart and is also similar to the center of the universe. The rest of the shrines are positioned around it. Shivlinga is at the centre sourrounded by all other shrines. The way the devotees worship at the temple is similar to the flow of blood through vessels, or the universe rotating around its axis. They start from the moolasthanam ( heart), go through each shrine that represents the main organs and worship back to the heart again. This shows how your gross body is nothing but divine existence on this earth, its only matter of time to realize it! That time can be anything from few seconds to to 1000 births!! Its deeper! Human body is the only way for divine realization!!
I happened to visit this Kovil in the evening phase, all seems to be so pacifying! The surroundings seems to be enchanted with the vibrations. The purpose of my blogs is not only to educate on the temples but also to share the importance of our core existence. If you are receptive enough the more you move towards the centre of the shrine of shivlinga, the more you will move towards inner peace. When we talk about peace on materialistic planes, which is very superficial and temporary. The day we realize that state of thoughtlessness is real peace is the day you will be at the sync with the nature. Thats how the world has been victim of all the things which moves one towards temporary state of peace, from liquor to drugs to sex!
Through these routes you will further pushed in the lower planes and you will sink deeper. Only immersing yourself in divine love is the only way to move ahead in the futile human life.This Kovil has presence of Shiv and Shakti both. Shiv Shakti together exists simultaneously. Divine cant be realize if you dont have energy in place.
When Rishi Bhringi told Lord Shiva that his love is only for him and doesnt have place for shakti in his life, shiva made him paralytic ( half dead) and showed him the right path,Shiv Shakti took " Ardhanareshwar" form showing the union, the insperability, the togetherness!! Only shakti makes you realize the existence of Shiva, only mother can tell the child who is his/ her father.
Sri Ponnambalawaneswaram is one of those kovils in Srilanka where the rituals are maintained as the vedic scriptures. It is must visit place for every spiritual seeker, you can spend good amount of time at this shrine. Timings are not the routine ones, afternoon the shrine is closed till 5 pm.
In the Part II of this series, I would be taking you through another Shiva Temple is Srilanka - Shri Munneswaram, Chilwa, Puttalama,Srilanka. It is also one of the five abodes of Shiva formed by Ravana in the ancient times.
Till then do meditate and start searching your trueself!!
Om namah Shivay!!
Mangesh Pawar
Panchatatvam/VDOO Travel,
+91-8007976815,
mangesh.pawar@vdoo-travel.in,
mangeshpawar83@gmail.com.
Comments
Post a Comment